The frozen empire
by SilverShadowFin
Summary: "I am simply to tell you that it has returned." That day, that moment, started a chain of events that changed life for everypony in Equestria. The Crystal Empire was back. But what had happened the night before? How did the Royal Guard know about the Empire's return in time to save it? It all started the night before, on a routine Night Guard patrol flight gone wrong.
1. Chapter 1

She was shivering in the cold. The air was freezing and the cold winds weren't doing her any favors. Starlight Shimmer cursed the patrol assignments. Nothing ever happened here in the North Plains. The Major had something against her, clearly. Her half-sister Sunset had been Celestia's most promising student until quitting the school and going into hiding somewhere. Even the Night Guard didn't know where Sunset Shimmer was. The Major seemed to think Starlight only get in to the Guard because of her sister. That was obviously not true. Starlight had actually had a harder time in the academy than most. Everyone assumed she was an unusually talented, and arrogant about it like her sister. She had never been arrogant and those who knew her said was a harder-working and humbler than most. The Major didn't seem to care. She had only patrolled icy plains and dark forests since the moon was last full. Some nights ago she had gotten a refreshing change of pace patrolling the mountains west of Whitehorse. Zipping between the peaks had been an adrenaline rush and it wasn't as cold as these northern plains. Still, it was clear she was never going to just glide above the Neighvada desert for a few nights, or keep an eye on the buzzing nightlife of Los Pegasos. She was going to be working alone in the coldest, most remote parts of Equestria for a long time.

The whole situation with Sunset was an embarrassment. Usually the Night Guard were masters of intelligence gathering and working in the shadows. Princess Luna, the protector of the night, had helped and protected the Kirins. Selected few had served as her personal guards in the old castle. After Luna had been taken over by Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia had been forced to banish her, kirins had become outcasts. Some had tried to bring the Princess back, or take the throne from her sister as revenge. Most, however, has stayed loyal to Equestria. They had worked in the shadows. The 'Nighties' had actually stopped most attacks against Celestia before the E.U.P. Guard had even known about them. It had been a matter of honor for most kirins to serve in the Night Guard. They lived in the dark mountains and forests, unseen by ponies. Even now after Princess Luna's return, serving the Royal Court was the only major way they interacted with ponies. After Princess Luna had been freed, the Night Guard had slowly gained an official position as "the shields and swords of the night". Still, the thousand years in the shadows still showed in the way they worked. They were never seen in Canterlot, or anywhere else for that matter. They were the invisible shield. The first and last line of defense.

The noble history didn't help Starlight Shimmer much at the moment, though. Pride in a job well done didn't shield against the piercing cold. She looked down and saw the train tracks. They were almost completely covered in snow, and that was only thanks to traffic. There was a building next to the tracks. The old abandoned train yard. She'd seen that there were warehouses and more tracks down there. Thanks to the way the wind was blowing, almost everything was covered in snow. A glimpse of light along the tracks in the north, behind her. There was a train coming. At least someone shared the hardship of being out here in the cold. Starlight banked left hard and dove to gain speed. Her dark uniform made her almost impossible to see against the night sky but she wasn't going to take the chance. Night Guard protocol was still to stay unseen. Centuries has shown that the best way to learn of a threat was to be everywhere but be seen by no one. The turn had put a cloud between her and the train. Even if somepony was awake and looking at the night sky, they couldn't see her. Starlight took a deep breath and then winced. The air rushing to her lungs was like needles. She could feel the ice gathering on her wings and cursed between her teeth. She'd dived too close to the cloud and the moisture had formed ice on her wings. They were too stiff to flap. She was losing altitude and turning uncontrollably. With the little control over her tail she had left she balanced out the uncontrollable turn and stabilized the descent. She couldn't touch the protective amulet around her neck to form a force field. She'd just lose her balance and crash into the icy snow.

Below the clouds, the arctic wind started pushing her to the northeast. It was best to let it happen and concentrate on stability. Icy gusts threw Starlight Shimmer around. No matter what, she was in for a hard landing. Bloody patrol shifts. This was the worst part of Equestria to patrol, and probably the most useless. There was nothing up here. There was just a diamond mine an hour or so to the northwest. Kennecolt mining town was a small but lively community. The trains ferried at least as much gemstones as they did passengers. Many unicorns worked in Kennecolt as gem finders and even more Earth ponies as miners. Pegasi didn't feel comfortable up there, with the paralyzing cold and wind on the surface and tiny, suffocating tunnels underground. Equestria was usually a peaceful realm, but greed could overcome somepony and make them do something stupid with the train. Princess Celestia didn't think there was much risk so the train wasn't protected by the E.U.P.G., just whatever guards were in the towns it passed through in the south, hours later. Up here, in the middle of the night, only the Night Guard was keeping an eye on it. Right now however, the Night Guard's eyes, Lieutenant Starlight Shimmer, wasn't seeing much. She was spinning out of control and the icy ground was heading toward her fast. Stupid mistake. Stupid cloud. As a last resort, Starlight looked down on her uniform. There was a metal ring at chest height, seemingly a decoration. She reached toward it and pulled it out with her teeth. Pulling the ring pulled out a long gray-silver ribbon. Resting against a back of her neck was a black, practically invisible group of enchanted stones. When the ribbon came out, they started glowing and pulsing light.

In an underground situation room near Trottmonton, a unicorn kirin saw a red light flash on a massive, wall-sized map of Equestria. As soon as he saw where the dot was, he hoped the location was wrong. He looked at the number glowing next to the red dot. He then grabbed a folder from the shelf next to him and quickly found the paper slip he was looking for.

* * *

><p><span>Operative 724, Lt. Starlight Shimmer 16th night of 2nd moon<span>

**Mission type and area**

Air patrol, Kennecolt Air Defense Zone

**Departure time**

Scheduled: 22:00 Actual: 22:04

**Arrival time**

Scheduled: 06:00 Actual:

**Team**

None, solo patrol.

**Notes**

**Operative's stamp**

725

Lieutenant Starlight Shimmer

**Shift commander's stamp**

255

Major Nightbreeze

* * *

><p>"Oh, for Luna's sake... Of course, of all nights for this thing to get the location spot on...", the blue-maned unicorn kirin muttered to himself before tapping on the communication stone. "Sir! This is flight control. We have a situation!"<p>

There was an impressively large hole in the icy snow. In the middle of that hole was a decidedly less impressive-looking kirin. Starlight Shimmer could only curse. She was in the harshest wilderness in Equestria. Her head was spinning. The right side of her face hurt. There didn't seem to be blood, only a little swelling. All she could see in any direction was snow. She tried standing up. If nothing else, it seemed like she wasn't hurt. Taking off in this wind was going to be a challenge. She spread her wings. Right after, she wished she hadn't. Her left wing felt like it was on fire. Fire... Too bad pony-dragon hybrids almost never had the ability to breathe fire, just like they almost never had the ability to use unicorn magic. Right at that moment, either one would have been incredibly useful. She started thinking back to her flight route. The abandoned train yard. That was her best option. Even with the distress signal, it could take the rest of the night for a medevac team to get there. The cold made the locator stones weak. If they didn't last until the morning, it was best to stay close to the tracks and her original flight route. Starlight put her left hoof on the amulet on her neck. After a couple of seconds, it started glowing. A field of energy formed around her. The wind and cold subsided. Starlight went through her flight suit pockets. The pockets and their contents seemed to have survived the hard landing. She couldn't see the tracks, or any other landmarks for that matter. Looking up in desperation and frustration, she realized the moon was visible between the clouds. Thank Luna for that. Now she at least knew where to head. Even if she didn't make it straight to the train yard, she'd reach the tracks somewhere south of the yard. The important thing was to keep walking straight. If she reached the tracks north of the yard and started walking north, she'd only realize the mistake after walking for at least an hour and reaching the rail junction.

Major Nightbreeze was looking at the map. There was a red dot in the north. It kept disappearing and then reappearing but it was moving.

"Sergeant, why is the dot disappearing every few seconds?", the major asked.

"We've seen this happen close to powerful unicorn magic. It's extremely rare, sir. Some types of curses keep the stones from communicating with other stones.", the blue-maned unicorn replied.

"But she's moving at least?", he asked.

"Yes, sir. Looks like she's headed to the old train yard. Her navigation skill is impressive. The visibility there is awful. She can't have more than a few stars and maybe the moon to navigate by.", the unicorn replied.

"At least she's going to have shelter. Good. Who are our closest operatives there?", the major asked.

The sergeant looked worried and gulped. The major sighed.

"So we have nopony anywhere near this place?", the major asked, now looking mostly annoyed. "If she either doesn't reach the yard or starts moving away from there, let me know immediately. Also let me know if we lose her alarm stones completely."

The sergeant did a crisp salute as the major practically galloped out of the situation room. He didn't particularly care for Lieutenant Starlight Shimmer but he'd never leave one of his ponies in trouble.

Major Nightbreeze got to the colonel's office in a few moments. After taking a deep breath he knocked on the door.

"Come in"

The major opened the door and did a crisp salute.

"What is it, major?", the mare behind the desk asked in a firm but friendly voice.

"Colonel, operative 724, lieutenant Shimmer, is sending out a distress signal. We assume a forced landing because of the weather. She's now south of Kennecolt, moving very slowly towards a train yard. It looks like she's walking. We keep losing her emergency stones for some reason. Requesting permission to redirect our patrols from Whitehorse and Ancarriage.", the major summarized the events so far.

"So you can't communicate with her?", the colonel asked, cutting straight to the point.

"No, ma'm. We can barely see her locator.", the major replied.

"Redirect the patrols. Go back to your station and oversee the rescue. Let me know immediately if anything changes.", the colonel said.

The major saluted and galloped back to the situation room. He went straight to the podium in front of the room, took a deep breath and looked at the team. By now he already had most operators' attention.

"Listen up! As you may have already seen and heard, we have a patrol down in the north. The colonel ordered patrols from Whitehorse and Ancarriage be sent to help. The location in south of Kennecolt, as you can see on the map. Redirect the patrols. I want Lt. Shimmer to be home warming herself up with a nice cup of hot chocolate by sunrise! We can do it so let's make happen!"

The unicorn sitting a further back in the room rolled his eyes. _Overdramatic much?_, was all he could think. The controllers responsible for the patrols were already sending new orders to Ancarriage and Whitehorse.

In the arctic plains, Starlight Shimmer was struggling forward in snow and ice. Her cheek hurt. _At least I don't need ice to keep the swelling down_, she thought sarcastically. The cheek, or even the injured wing, didn't feel too bad. The pain caused by the cold helped keep things in perspective. Her thoughts drifted to the previous summer. She'd spent a part of her summer vacation visiting her cousin in Manehattan. He'd got her hooked in reading. Coworkers in the Guard had joked about how she was becoming "soft". Stralight Shimmer laughed out loud under the scarf she'd wrapped to protect her face. Reading was for eggheads. That's what she'd always thought. In Manehattan she saw a movie about Daring Do, an adventurer archeologist. She had been like a fanfilly cheering for Daring Do, and frustrated to no end when the movie ended with the villain still on the loose. Her cousin had all the Daring Do books. After some worrying about her 'cool' image a bit, she'd decided it was just as cool to do what the hay she wanted and spent the next week reading every single book in the series. She couldn't help thinking about the time Daring Do injured her wing but still managed to get to the temple and get the Sapphire Statue. _Daring Do __is fiction from some frail old writer's pen but I'm one of the real-__life epic__ survivors_, she told herself and pressed on in the dark, cold nigh.


	2. Chapter 2

High above Whitehorse, Lieutenant Silver Shield was unexpectedly being teased by two of his idols.

"C'mon, Lt.! Put your bits where the bragging takes you!"

Silver Shield looked uncomfortable.

"Sorry, ladies. I had no idea you could hear me. You're not even supposed to know I'm out here. Nopony should be able to fly this high."

The two pegasus mares exchanged grins.

"Before you say it, I know you're not exactly anyponies.", the kirin quickly added.

"You could say that.", High Winds said sarcastically, climbing next to Silver Shield from below.

"Besides, we are the ones flying here this late. We're not exactly surprised to see a Night Guard pony up here.", Misty Fly added.

"Please, I'm not a pony. I'm a kirin.", Silver Shield said, sounding a little tense.

"Whoops. Sorry about that. I still forget sometimes. I didn't mean to offend you."

"I'm not offended. I'm actually surprised to see us accepted this quickly.", the kirin said.

"Why wouldn't you? You're lead by Luna. If the Royal Court trusts you, I trust you.", High Winds said, now more seriously. "Sorry for giving you a hard time. Just a little E.U.P.G. humor."

"Thanks. And don't sweat it. Night Guard humor is even darker.", he said and winked.

The two mares face-hoofed. Certainly an impressive thing to do at that speed, but nothing special to the two Wonderbolts.

Suddenly their attention turned to a glowing stone in Silver Shield's uniform. He noticed it too, slowed down a little and pressed the stone with his hoof. I turned dim red. The kirin looked surprised, almost shocked.

"Well this is something you don't see every night.", he said to the two mares.

Red was only used for urgent messages, mostly emergencies. The stone started blinking. Sometimes slower, sometimes faster. The message was long and getting all of it took some time. Finally the blinking stopped. Silver Shield tapped the stone a few times.

"What was that?", surprise asked.

"A message from our control. Sorry, I have to go.", the kirin said and banked right.

"You look worried, lieutenant. I can't order a Night Guard to do anything but I can tell you this: we'll do anything we can to help. You look like you just got really bad news.", High Winds said.

"Okay. You're technically still E.U.P.G. so I suppose I can tell you. A friend of mine went down while patrolling near Kennecolt.", the lieutenant said. "They think it was the weather but they can't contact her."

"Kennecolt? The weather up there is horrible. You're not flying there by yourself or you'll probably go down too. Misty, you're one of the best cloudbusters in Equestria. I don't want to order you to go, especially mid-season, but-"

High Winds couldn't even finish her sentence before Misty Fly replied.

"Consider it done, ma'am! Oh, I'd love to see Spitfire's face when she hears about this.", Misty Fly snickered.

"If it was her instead of me, she'd have ordered you to go. Headlines like 'Ace flyers help save Night Guard officer' would boost our fame nicely. I'll go brief her on what's going on.", High Winds snickered back.

Misty Fly rolled her eyes at High Winds before diving to an altitude where winds could help her and Shadow Shield get to the icy north faster. She could see lieutenant Shield talking to Misty, clearly surprised. The kirin were still used to being outcasts. It was probably hard to believe an E.U.P.G. ace flier volunteered to help the Night Guard. To High Winds, her position in the supposed controversy was simple. Lives were at stake. Spitfire had made it clear that any Wonderbolt was to treat the Night Guard with respect. Some had claimed that was because of Spitfire's romantic involvement with a Night Guard kirin in the past. The wildest rumors said it had been a mare. Spitfire denied everything, of course. Soarin was probably the only one who knew the truth. She and Spitfire had known each other since childhood and Soarin was like a brother to Spitfire. High Winds watched Misty and Silver Shield go and then dove straight down toward Whitehorse. Spitfire was not going to be happy about having to wake up in the middle of the night. The show had been a success but the press conference had been torture. Exhausted or not, she needed to know what was going on, now.

It took High Winds a little under fifteen minutes to fly to the city. The door attendant of Skkkky! Hotel opened the door as soon as she landed.

"Evening, ma'am. Certainly a nice weather for a late-night flight around the city.", he greeted.

She nodded and mumbled something resembling a polite affirmative reply while galloping in past the door attendant. In the lobby, a reflection off a – tacky in her opinion – metallic flower pot caught her attention. The high-class Skkkky! Hotel was named so because of the air field across the road. It was the biggest city in the area but far away from everything. A train ride to Canterlot took more than ten hours, even on the express. Some time ago, a number of enterprising pegasi had started offering 'flying wagon' rides to Vancourbette, a metropolis with easy access to connecting services. Canterlot, Los Pegasus, Manehattan and of course Cantreàl were only a few hours away, for those rich unicorns and Earth ponies who couldn't afford to sit on the train all day, or night. The lights on the field were still on. Could Spitfire still be out going through her demanding solo performance? High Winds calmed herself and walked to the front desk. The nigh-shift receptionist obviously recognized her.

"Good evening, ma'am. How can I help you? Anything for the ace flyers.", he asked, trying – and miserably failing – to hide his excitement. This could still be a good thing. If he knew Misty in her civilian flight jacket, he'd definitely have recognized Spitfire.

"Good evening. I was wondering, have you seen the other Wonderbolts tonight? I need to talk to captain Spitfire about something immediately. Is there a chance she's out at the airfield practicing?", High Winds asked.

"Actually, ma'am, captain Spitfire ordered dinner to her room less than an hour ago.", the receptionist said.

"Thank you. Have a nice evening.", she said, nodded hastily and put a couple of two-bit coins on the desk before galloping to the elevator.

"Hi there, lt.", Spitfire said, clearly caught off guard by the sudden visit and the lieutenant's nervous look.

"Can I come in? Official E.U.P.G. stuff.", High Winds asked.

"What now? They're changing our flight restrictions again? Let me guess: they raised our ceiling to as high as we can fly but only gave us an area the size of this room?", Spitfire asked, followed by dry laughter.

Lieutenant Winds gave her captain a joyless grin, then looked at her dead in the eye. The smile disappeared from Spitfire's face and she opened the door, inviting lieutenant Winds in with a nod towards the sofa. She closed the door after her unexpected visitor and turned to her.

"This sounds serious. Did something happen to Misty?", Spitfire asked.

"No, ma'am. Well not an accident anyway. Obviously you already know we were getting some fresh air. About fifteen minutes ago we happened to meet a Night Guard p-, sorry, kirin, there. Lieutenant Silver Shield. While we were talking, he got a message from Trottmonton.", High Winds told her captain.

Spitfire raised an eyebrow.

"The Night Guard command center there. Anyway, the lieutenant was ordered to fly to the arctic, south of Kennecolt. Apparently a Night Guard patrol went down in that area because of the weather.", the lieutenant continued.

"Misty is the best cloudbuster we've ever had in the 'Bolts. We need to get some of those kirin communication stones. If I'd known I'd have sent Misty to help them.", Spitfire said.

High Winds could only smile. Spitfire raised an eyebrow again.

"Well, ma'am... We both knew that's exactly what you'd say. Misty volunteered to help the Night Guard. As the team commander, I green-lighted her to go." Hight Winds stood up in attention and continued. "I take full responsibility for the decision. With all due respect, I feel I made the decision applying E.U.P.G. emergency protocol to a Night Guard emergency. We are to provide all the help we can without delay if a life is in danger and report it to our superiors as soon as possible.", Hight Winds said and saluted.

To her horror, she only now realized the mistake she had made. Night Guard and E.U.P.G. were considered parts of the same organization. The emergency procedures applied to situations like these. It wasn't her call. She had to provide all the help she could.

Spitfire took a deep breath and looked High Winds straight in the eye.

"Lieutenant, there are only two things in your actions I may have to question. As you correctly said, we are to provide all the help we can. First, you said Misty volunteered. Was that before or after you had a chance to order her to go? Second, do you not consider yourself to be of any help in the rescue mission?", Spitfire asked sternly.

"Madam, Lieutenant Fly volunteered after I reminded her how much she could help with the rescue. I was trying to ascertain if she was too exhausted to take part in a rescue mission that could last all night. A tired pegasi is more likely to make mistakes that could, in the worst case, compromise the mission. As for myself, I know I am too exhausted to operate safely and could have become a safety hazard to the team. Also, you needed to be informed immediately.", High Winds said, dancing around the truth.

"At ease, lt. Have a seat. Your actions have been commendable. I can see you're tired. You probably made the right call coming here. I'll have our comms officer contact Canterlot. They can tell Trottmonton that the Night Guard has my full support if they need anything. Not that there's much we can do. It's all down to the Night Guard and Misty. Try to relax. Go and sleep if you can. I need you rested and ready to go if something changes", Spitfire said before leaving the room.

The mood at Trottmonton Control was calm but concentrated. Lieutenant Shimmer was moving. She was already close to the train yard. Patrols from Ancarriage and Whitehorse were on the way. It would take them up to one and a half hours to get there through the rough weather but that wasn't going to be a problem. The lieutenant had shelter until the patrols got there. The second message from Lt. Shield was good news, if really unexpected. A Wonderbolt had joined the mission. They had one of the best cloudbusters in the land taming the chaotic weather that probably had caused the accident in the first place. The colonel's desk was a mess of papers. Coordinating and properly reporting a sudden mission like this meant a mountain of paperwork. She could have had flight control take care of it but they were already spread thin coordinating the rescue on top of routine patrols. She sighed and moved the paper stacks to the sides of the desk. It felt stupid involving the royalty but this had just become a joint mission between the Night Guard and the E.U.P.G. The Royal Sisters needed to know. If the mission dragged on, the E.U.P.G. would take it over at sunrise. The colonel touched a crystal on the desk. It cast a three-dimensional image on the desk surface. The image was only a blue pedestal on the desk at first. After a few moments, the head of Her Royal Highness herself appeared on it. The colonel bowed.

"Your Highness. I apologize for taking your time. I am the leader of the Night Guard station in Trottmonton. The Night Guard has a situation in the north we thought you should know about.", the colonel said.

"I assume this is about your patrol's emergency in the north. Please go on.", the Princess said, quickly and firmly.

The colonel was surprised. How did the Princess know already?

"Yes, You Highness. Lieutenant Starligh Shimmer was patrolling the train tracks south of Kennecolt and it looks like the weather forced her to land. She seems to be walking so we think she is injured. For some reason we can't communicate with her. Patrols have been sent to rescue her.", the colonel summarized.

"I received a dragon letter from captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts only moments ago. I am pleased to see the Wonderbolts working with the Night Guard to resolve the situation. The E.U.P. Guard have been informed that one of their officers is working with you. Captain Spitfire had also pledged the Wonderbolts' support to you. Best of luck, colonel. May fate be favorable to you and winds bring the lieutenant back safely.", the princess said. It was clear she was already on top of things.

"Thank you, Your Highness. We will keep you informed.", the colonel replied before closing the link.


	3. Chapter 3

Starlight Shimmer sighed in relief. She was finally out of the deep snow. There was already a layer of fresh snow on the tracks. Getting in to the station building was going to be a challenge. Well, it was not like it could be worse than wading through the snow. Starlight looked at her watch. It had taken her a little over one and a half hours to reach the train yard but her navigation was spot on. She was just north of the yard and warehouses, close to a station building that was there in the middle of nowhere for some reason. She was intrigued. Hopefully there was something inside that could shed light to the mystery. The thoughts were interrupted by a something on the ground. Starlight's right hoof hit something hard hidden by the snow. Probably something metallic. She inhaled sharply and let out a quiet whine. Cursed snow. It may have been the stress, the fatigue or just the absurdity of the situation but she burst into quiet laugher. She'd just planned to figure out the history of the railway station. That was hardly a priority. She was alone in the arctic night. Her tea and food would only last for some hours. This was no time for history studies. Shaking her head at the silly thoughts, she made her way to the remains of the station platform. As soon as she got a look at it, she could only squint her eyes. Something was off. There was a path leading from the other side of the platform to the door of the station building. That made no sense. The building was dilapidated. The platform was falling apart. Nothing stopped at the station. There was no reason for anypony to be there. If anything, the difficulties made Starlight more paranoid, not sloppy. She hadn't seen anyone flying overhead and it would still take more than an hour for somepony from Ancarriage or Whitehorse to get there.

The suspicious kirin climbed on the platform and cautiously started walking to the door. The raging wind and snow easily hid her from anypony inside. She slowly pushed the handle down and tried pulling on the door. As she had suspected, it opened, pushing snow out of its way. Starlight stepped in and pulled the door shut behind her, just as quietly as she'd opened it. _Not that it mattered_, she though. _Anypony in here would have heard the wind blowing outside._ She eyed the dark building. Snowed-over, cracked glass windows, remains of wooden and metallic benches, remains of something that looked like announcement boards bathing in the faint light. She walked forward. The shadows on the floor weren't moving. She was probably alone. The biggest threat was the nature around her. Thankfully the building was in fairly good shape. Surprisingly good really. Through some miracle the walls, doors and windows hadn't given in to the elements. There was no snow inside. It was cold but at least she was safe from the wind. A building like this had to a have at least a couple of fireplaces too. With any luck she might be able to light a fire to keep warm.

Suddenly Starlight raised her eyebrows. Fire. Faint light? Shadows? She face-hoofed mentally. _Get a grip, lieutenant!_ There was light in the building. Probably torches or candles. There was no way she was alone. The kirin's mind went back to soldier mode. She snuck forward and looked around. The small station hall was empty. It was easy to see what the station had been like back whenever it was still used. Wooden benches with decorative metal frames surrounded the large room. There were remains of two large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Decorative crystals still dangling on the rusty metal cast rays and beams of faint orange light around the room. The light was coming from a side room, probably an old office for the station staff. Starlight saw a shadow move. She was relieved and nervous at the same time. She wanted to believe the stranger could help her, but couldn't. There was something very wrong with this whole encounter. The only choice was to keep moving and try to adapt to whatever was waiting for her. Starlight should have called out to whoever was in the room but there was something keeping her quiet and cautious. _Years of field experience_, she thought with a joyless grin on her face as she crept across the hall in the shadows.

Just as she got a good look into the room, Starlight heard a door open. She instinctively took cover behind a metal bench. Wind was howling outside. Snow was blowing in from a back room behind the office. The door slammed shut as quickly as it had opened. Silence returned to the building. The same couldn't be said about Starlight Shimmer's mind. She took a deep breath, making sure to stay as quiet as she could. _Calm the buck down, Starlight. You're behaving like a wild animal. __Sneaking around, being literally scared of shadows... The shock is messing with your mind. You're a Night Guard. This is ridiculous._ She stood up and walked to the office.

"Hello? Is there anyone here? I had an accident out there and could sure use some help.", she said while looking around. Nopony answered. Whoever left moments earlier was the only one in the office. The large candles around the room were all still lit. Their flame had an unusual bright red glow to it. It had to be dark magic. Normal unicorn magic wouldn't leave those kinds of traces behind. The worry Starlight had just pushed away snuck back. There was the creepy kind of worrisome and the 'someone lit these candles light here using dark magic' kind of worrisome.

"Anyone here, show yourself! The dark magic you're using is unpredictable and dangerous, not to mention illegal! I'm with the Night Guard.", Starlight shouted.

Her voice was absorbed by the wooden walls of the empty building as she went back to the hall and started going through the rooms of the building.

"Enough games! I represent the Royal Court!", she shouted.

She could be reasonably sure mentioning the Court would make anypony still hiding fairly nervous. Nervous enough to make a stupid mistake and reveal themselves, she hoped. There was no sound but the wind raging outside, muffled by the thick walls. She hadn't found anypony in the small building either.

Starlight looked around in the candle-lit office. _What the hay was going on?_ She decided to take a more detailed look at the room. Had the mystery unicorn left anything behind? Starlight smiled again. She was a detective at heart. An hour in the cold night couldn't change that. A whole night in the cold couldn't. At the thought of the dark and cold, her mind wandered back to the forced landing. Her communication stone had been dark, out of touch with the other stones, even Trottmonton Control. She looked at the red glow of the candles. She remembered something she'd heard in comms training. _Powerful unicorn magic could sometimes mess with the stones, even interfere with the more robust emergency stones._ Starlight looked at her reflection in one of the windows. The emergency stones were still pulsing. The landing may or may not have been an accident but there was something else going on in these plains. She couldn't be sure that Trottmonton had received her message. The mystery unicorn had run away. Would it be safe to wait at the station until morning and then try to flag down the morning train to Kennecolt?

Starlight was confused. The pile of firewood near the fireplace had been bone dry. Any dragon would have laughed at her fumbling with the flint. It took her a good couple of minutes to produce enough of a spark to light the kindling. The chimney was probably full of ice but that was a problem she had to deal with later. She trotted back to the office. There were papers scattered on the desk, and – thankfully – a few brand new candles. She picked up the candles. Just when she was putting them to her flight vest pocket, one of them fell to the floor with a loud clatter and broke to pieces.

"Damn.", Starlight muttered aloud.

She sighed and crouched to pick up the pieces. One of them rolled under the desk when she was trying to pick it up.

"Fan-pony-fastic!", she hissed between her closed teeth and reached further down to have a look under the desk.

She grabbed the piece of candle, but also felt something else. A piece of paper. She pulled it out. It had a few lines of writing on it, Starlight noticed with a quick glance. More acutely, she noticed that she should have been more careful getting back on her hooves. The injured wing hit the side of the desk

"Buck this crap! More of this... bull manure and I'm flying out of here on one wing if I have to!"

After slamming the paper on the desk, Starlight took a deep breath and walked over to the fireplace in the next room. Lighting the candles didn't cause her to trip and fall into the fire like she'd half-seriously feared. The nearly round wooden holders on the candles did make carrying them a challenge, though, and Starlight was worried she'd drop one and start a fire.

"Deep breaths, lieutenant. Remember your training. This isn't the time to unravel. Concentrate. The adrenaline and endorphins will wear off soon. You'll be able to look at this with a clear head.", Starlight reminded herself out loud.

Taking deep breaths and concentrating on what she was doing, she carried the lit candles to the office. Next to a naturally lit candle, the magic candles became even more apparent. She now had almost as many natural candles as magic-lit ones. The emergency transmitter's blink reflected off a window. It was best to blow out the magic candles. They were almost certainly messing with the already messed-up stones. She tried to blow out the nearest one. The flame didn't even budge. Of course. Bloody magic. Starlight trotted back to the fireplace and quickly found what she was looking for: an ash bucket that was still half full for some reason. One at a time, she chucked the half dozen or so candles in the bucket. Not one of them went out. _Why do you even need the candle __when the flame apparently survives any__t__hing?_ Starlight rolled her eyes. _Unicorns._ Starlight trotted to the side door. The floor still had snow on it. _Why __can't__ ponies be more considerate towards others when using dark magic in the middle of nowhere and running away from the law?_ Getting the door open took some doing with the wind pushing against it and snow already piling up outside. Starlight threw the ash and candles into the wind. A gust carried the candles, still lit, surprisingly far. _Good riddance, troublemakers._

Starlight could only stare with her mouth agape. _What the hay just happened?_ After closing the door and turning back into the office, Starlight couldn't believe what she was seeing. _No way this is real._ She blinked a few times. Nothing changed. _Okay, I'm not hallucinating. That's a good thing I suppose._ The office looked completely different. From the open door, Starlight could see the chandeliers in the waiting hall. They were in pristine condition. The black polished metal was shining. In the office itself, the old dusty and discolored desks had been replaced with ones made of lovely cherry wood and accented with polished brass. The candles she'd carried there just moments ago were now in intricately decorated polished brass holders. The whole building, at least its interior, was completely transformed. It was brand new. Starlight had a headache. _What the bucking hay is going on here?_ She sat down on one of the chairs that had just moments ago looked like it was going to fall apart.

"Think. What do you know?", Starlight muttered to herself. "Those candles were lit with dark magic. When I threw them out, this happened. Before, there were magical candles here, now there aren't. This has to be real."

Starlight had loved playing chess since she was a filly. Logical thinking was one of her biggest strengths. There had to be a logical explanation to this. Whoever had run away from this place had used dark magic, for something really mundane too. That's not something you want somepony to see by accident. At the same time, you needed shelter in this climate. An abandoned rail yard was pretty good for that. Add some vanity and you'll easily choose a nice station building over a warehouse. Starlight looked around. A unicorn could easily fire away restoration spells for a few hours and make a small building like the station brand new. The candles seemed to have a dual role of providing light and somehow camouflaging the station's... upgrades from outsiders. After all, train passengers could see in to the building and get suspicious.

"Major Nightbreeze! Sir!"

"What is it, sergeant?"

"Beacon 724 is back. It came back a few minutes ago. Looks like lieutenant Shimmer is still at the train yard."

"Thank goodness. Does the signal still keep disappearing?"

"No, sir. It's been stable since it came back."

"Has anyone tried to send a message now?"

"Yes, sir. We tried twice. No response."

"Keep trying regularly."

"Yes, sir."

The major then turned to face another desk. He only looked at the controller. His expression did the talking and the sergeant answered immediately.

"Both patrols were informed the moment we saw the signal come back, sir. They both report strong, unpredictable winds. They're close but they've had to slow down just like we expected.", the controller summed up the situation.

"Thank you, sergeants.", the major said before cantering out of the situation room. He'd already told the colonel that 724's signal had been lost. She would want to know about this change a.s.a.p. It was still far too early to celebrate.

Knocks on the colonel's door went unanswered. Major Nightbreeze looked at the clock on the wall. It was half past four. It had been a little over one and a half hours since the alert. The colonel usually took a "lunch break", as she called it, a little after three o'clock. That was right around the time she'd been told about lieutenant Shimmer. Major Nightbreeze could bet the colonel had been busy with coordinating with the Royal Guard and the Court since then. He headed upstairs to the mess hall. As soon as he got to the door, he saw the colonel sitting at a table near the side wall. She was chatting with a couple of colleagues, about work no doubt. Their faces were grim and serious. Clearly they assumed a Night Guard officer was now missing in action. A fair assumption, considering how lieutenant Shimmer's locator had just gone dead some distance from the train yard and stayed that way for quite some time. They had no idea what the lieutenant's condition was. There was a good chance she'd gone down hard and broken bones. She could be bleeding. There was no telling what the hastily-thrown-together rescue team would find.

"Ma'am. I apologize for the interruption,", Major Nightbreeze said and saluted. "but there has been a development in the Kennecolt case. Lieutenant Shimmer's locator signal is back. She is at an old train yard. It is likely that she's inside a building. It looks like she is not moving."

The ponies around the table looked at Major Nightbreeze surprised, then each other with obvious relief.

"Thank you, major. This is great news. Is there any chance we could contact her?", the colonel asked.

"At this time, it doesn't seem likely, ma'am. We have tried twice. No response."

The colonel raised an eyebrow.

"I assume we still have no idea what is going on with the lieutenant's comms?", she asked.

Major Nightbreeze couldn't help letting his frustration show. There was a hint of shame in his voice.

"No, ma'am. We have no idea if she's getting our messages. She may be unable to reply.", he said, his whole presence deflating.

The colonel shot a pointed looked at the defeated-looking major.

"Major, you look like you've decided that the lieutenant is bleeding out in the cold. You just gave us evidence of the opposite." The colonel's voice kept rising. "You. Will. Not. Give. Up. Now. We need your head in the game. Lieutenant Shimmer's life could depend on it. Don't let The Guard down. Bring her back safely. That's an order. Dismissed, major."

The major, shocked and standing in attention during the little speech, could only salute and slowly walk away.


	4. Chapter 4

Misty Fly was cursing in her mind. She had been cursing out loud but the hale hitting her teeth and mouth had cut the profanities short quickly. Whatever comments about the weather sucking pony posterior had escaped, were drowned by the wind. Misty looked to her left and saw Silver Shield motioning up. She nodded and the duo started climbing towards the clouds, and hopefully above. Suddenly a gust of wind hit them and pushed them left, hard. Both fliers had to lever off. Climbing in that kind of wind sheer was a lost cause. Misty also worried about two other problems. Firstly, the wild changes in wind speed and direction would almost certainly cause turbulence. Second, flying above the clouds would mean trusting their compass and navigating by stars instead of following the, admittedly barely visible, railroad tracks.

Lieutenant Shimmer had to be saved, soon, but was this the way to do it? This was probably the exact same weather that had forced her to land. Misty was frustrated beyond imagination. She was a great cloudbuster and one of the very best aerobatic flyers in Equestria. Another blast of icy wind hit her head on. Her wigs became light as the air around them was suddenly moving alft faster than she was moving forward. Lieutenant Shield was already flapping his wigs helplessly and falling like a rock. In about one second, Misty found herself following suit. The wind carried her words of frustration.

"This is bullllcraaaaaappp!"

She was falling so fast her voice had a Doppler effect from an outside observer's perspective.

Most pegasi found stall and free fall terrifying. To Misty, it was a mild annoyance. She rolled her eyes at the mess they were in, spread her wings and waited to gain more speed. In a few moments, she felt wind beneath her wings and used her feathers to take control of the near-nosedive. This time, taking control meant pushing herself into a steeper dive. She was not going to watch a second Night Guard crash into the arctic ice. Silver Shield had gotten some control back but was still falling. Misty reached him in a couple of seconds and placed herself below him.

"Can you recover?", Misty shouted up to Silver Shield at the top of her lungs.

"No! Damned winds!", Silver Shield shouted back over the wind noise.

They weren't in free fall, but ground was getting closer and closer. Misty got right below Silver Shield and grabbed his forelegs with hers.

"What the-"

"Spread you wings! Trust me!"

Silver Shield hesitated but did what Misty told him to.

Misty knew she could carry Silver Shield if it came to that. She pulled them into a near-vertical dive.

"Keep your wings spread!", Misty shouted to Silver Shield.

"Done! I'm getting lift back!"

Misty felt Silver Shield rise from her back. She used her forelegs to push Silver Shield up, into a shallower dive. The two fliers separated. Silver Shield leveled off and Misty did a half loop, first diving to gain speed and then pitching up to climb. Soon she was flying next to Silver Shield.

"Thanks for that. I'm pretty sure you saved my life there, lt.", Silver Shield hollered over the wind, clearly still nervous.

"All part of the job, lieutenant. I just hope that doesn't happen again.", Misty replied calmly but loudly.

"Probably not. The weather is clearing up ahead. We're almost trough this. There's no point trying to climb again.", Silver Shield said, calming down.

"You're right. Let's just push through."

After a couple more, far less severe, turbulence-induced stalls the duo reached calmer air. Of course, 'calm' was relative. The wind was still worse than the average pegasus would have been comfortable with and falling snow limited visibility. To the experienced Night Guard officer and the ace aerobatic flyer, though, it was nothing. Misty pushed and kicked the worst of the clouds of their way with ease. After kicking a large cloud out of the way, Misty finally saw it: buildings next to the train tracks. It was the train yard lieutenant Shimmer had apparently been heading to. The news about Trottmonton losing the locator signal was a problem, though. They had no idea if the lieutenant had reached the train yard, and only a vague idea of where to look for her. Misty slowed down and gave Silver Shield a few moments to reach her.

"You should probably let your flight control know we're here.", Misty said to him.

"True. Give me a moment."

Misty looked to her left, to the ice plains and the mountains and valleys visible some distance away. She couldn't help the worried frown forming on her face. Silver Shield noticed.

"Worried that Shimmer didn't make it to the yard?", he asked, sounding just a little worried himself.

"Of course I am. Finding anypony from down there in time would be a Celestiadamn miracle.", Misty replied.

The Wonderbolt was looking at Silver Shield, waiting for a reply when the stone around his neck started flashing white light. Silver Shield looked down and concentrated on decoding the message. After the flashing stopped, he let out a massive sigh of relief.

"Yess!", he exclaimed while tapping the stone a few times.

"Good news I take it?", Misty asked, her voice giving away her careful optimism.

"Trottmonton has Shimmer's locator signal again. They say it's "likely" coming from the station building.", Silver Shield said, now pointlessly hiding his excitement behind the emotionless face of a professional and using air quotes to highlight the uncertainty.

"Thank goodness.", Misty sighed. "Now we have a real chance of finding more than a kirinsicle attached to a locator."

"I am a terrible kirin for almost laughing at that. You, on the other hoof, need a warning stamp on your forehead. Something like 'The opinions of this officer do not represent the E.U.P. Guard.'", Silver Shield said, mocking outrage.

"You do realize my flight suit would cover that, right? Talking about the flight suit, I am a Wonderbolt. My one and only job is to represent the E.U.P.G.", Misty said, laughing.

The two rescuers relaxed a little, throwing a few jokes and mock insults at back and forth. The worst seemed to be behind them. They had gotten through the storm and knew lieutenant Shimmer had shelter. In the distance they could see a kirin in the Night Guard uniform.

"Hey, is that your guy from Ancarriage?", Misty asked after seeing the uniformed flier.

"Must be. I say we rendezvous in the air, just in case.", Silver Shield replied.

"My thoughts exactly.", Misty hollered over the wind, already banking steeply toward the second Night Guard operative.

Silver Shield sighed. It was clear he was flying with a military aerobatic specialist. Lieutenant Fly was fast and agile, but seemed reckless by Night Guard standards. He banked far less tightly, forming a large arch and accelerating steadily. He had no chance of reaching lieutenant Fly en route but that didn't really matter as long as she didn't do something as thoughtless as diving down to the yard alone. Silver Shield eyed the buildings at his one o'clock. There were no obvious paths or hoof prints. Then again, it had been some time since lt. Shimmer reached the yard. Suddenly Silver Shield saw something in the corner of his eye.

A flash of light against the snow. He watched in shock as three fireballs shot up toward the sky. They were heading toward the other Night Guard operative. Racing the fireballs was a lost cause but he had to try. He shouted a warning despite knowing full well it would be lost in the wind. The other operative had noticed the threat and was dodging the flaming things. Silver Shield could only watch in horror as the fireballs changed course and followed the kirin. The radio and locator black-out Trottmonton had reported started to make sense in the worst possible ways. The weather was probably far from being the worst threat in these northern plains. Silver Shield was too far to help his colleague. He tapped his stone a few times, hoping the message would reach Trottmonton. He didn't go into detail. There was no time. The message was simple.

_Under attack. Hostiles unknown. Train yard. 522._

The stone transmitted his ID number to Trottmonton automatically... _if_ the message got through without issues. He was not going to take the chance. 'Train yard' wasn't a proper way to report their location but it was good enough and above all, quick to send.

Misty had noticed the flash of light immediately but it took a moment to convince herself that what she was seeing was real. The fireballs followed the kirin. This was insane. She did the only thing she could think of and dove straight toward the fireballs. Her eyes were fixated on the flames ahead as she turned right very slightly. The fireballs turned toward her. Good. If nothing else, the threat was now under her control. She threw herself to the left as tightly as she could. The fireballs, now very close, followed. Misty flapped her wings as hard as she could and pulled herself into a purposefully large loop. The projectiles had to climb almost straight up to keep up with her. At the top of the loop, now flying inverted, Misty rolled 180 degrees to bring herself back upright. The fireballs were still following her.

"I don't bucking believe this. The celestiadamn things don't respec turn _or_ an Immelmann?", Misty muttered to herself.

Misty looked at the clouds now below her. She was going to have to up the stakes.

The Wonderbolt pitched up into a vertical climb without any warning. Instead of flapping, she spread her wings. She was slowing down, a lot. Just before a nose-up stall, she used her right wing to accelerate, only on that side. Her left side stalled and started falling. Her right wing was now pointing up at the sky. Adjusting the angle a little worked just like she'd planned, and in another second her tail was pointing up at the sky. She was diving straight down. The fireballs had shot past her, unable to slow down to match her near-standstill and subtle position changes. They did come close enough to almost burn her feathers but missed. Stall turns were stupid and reckless in combat but still sometimes the fastest way to change heading. She leveled off just above the clouds. Silver Shield and the other kirin joined her in just seconds. It looked like there were no more nasty surprises heading their way. Yet, at least.

The mood had changed. The weather had been annoying, but relatively predictable, the occasional falling out of the sky notwithstanding. Now the three military flyers were all tense. They had no idea what they were facing. All they knew was it was bad news. Really bad. The new kirin flew next to Misty and introduced herself quickly.

"Sergeant Blue Shine reporting to service, ma'am. It's an honor, and thank you for saving my life there. Couldn't have shaken them myself. Sorry we had to meet like this, though. Ma'am.", the new kirin said to Misty and saluted.

"So am I, sergeant. Misty Fly, but it sounds like you knew that already. And drop the formalities. We're in combat. Did you see whoever shot those fireballs?", Misty replied, her attention obviously elsewhere.

"Sorry, ma'am. No idea. Just a flash of light in the dark. Bright enough to mess up my vision."

Silver Shield frowned at the Wonderbolt lieutenant. She was outside normal Night Guard chain of command. Sergeant Shine was technically supposed to take her orders from him. At the same time, the young sergeant would be a pile of ash drifting in the wind if it wasn't for lieutenant Fly. Clearly the Wonderbolt had things better in hoof than he did.

For a few moments, Starlight Shimmer could only stare at the sky in awe. Somepony had really showed those fireballs. The flying had been insane. The mysterious black-and-red unicorn was obviously as shocked as she was. Normally Starlight would have been shocked that the dark-magic-wielding unicorn was still at the train yard. She had been in danger the whole time. Coming out as quietly as possible after operative 522's message had been a good move. If she hadn't, those fireballs would probably have been chasing her. Unlike the rescue team, she still couldn't fly. The wing was really messed up. Starlight happened to look up at the sky. There were three kirins diving down toward the ground. Her eyes shot down, to the unicorn. Just like she'd feared, a second salvo of fireballs lit up the yard with their blinding light.

For a second, the kirins didn't react, just kept coming. Then one of them dashed forward and made a few tight turns. The ace flyer had again lured the fireballs away from the rest of the team. The other two kept diving toward the unicorn. Starlight acted without thinking. She picked up a small block of ice and hurled it at the unicorn, then another one. The unicorn was just about to do something when the first block of ice hit. The black figure looked around, moving aggressively. The second block hit a force field in midair and evaporated into steam. The two kirins almost had the unicorn. Then something happened. The unicorn turned into a cloud of black dust and sank into the ice. Starlight couldn't believe what she was seeing. That was impossible. Not that she hadn't already seen more than fair share of impossible things that night. Trails of black dust moved away from the yard, toward the ice plain where Starlight had crashed. The kirins landed where the unicorn had been and immediately looked up, trying to see how their teammate was doing with the orbs of flaming death chasing her.

Misty's face had twisted into a frown. Of course. Of-bucking-course. Trying to fry her once just had to be once too little. Simply out-climbing the damn things wasn't working. They were gaining. Diving toward them and them pulling into a climb right in front of them had been incredibly risky. One mistake and she'd have been toast. Stalling during the climb, same thing. Now she didn't have the energy the keep climbing fast enough. Buying the kirins some time to stop the shooter was the best she could do. Misty leveled off and watched the fireballs gain on her. At the last moment, she simply folded her wings and let gravity do its thing. She had hoped one free fall per night would be enough. She was now far lower than she'd been when Silver Shield almost fell out of the sky. The fireballs followed her down. One mistake and she'd end up a frozen pancake. Pulling up too early would have her lighting up the night sky brighter than the captain's cutie mark.

Misty tensed her wing muscles. The ground rushed closer. _Three. Two. Ooooonnne... and go!_ Misty opened her wings and struck downward. A couple more strong strokes and she almost pulled herself out of the dive. First grazing warehouse rooftops, she hit the snowy ground at an angle and tumbled forward a little before coming to a stop. The fireballs slammed into the icy snow behind her. She covered her face with her forelegs and threw herself flat on the snow as the blast of heat washed over her. For a few seconds she could only lay there, eyes closed, taking deep breaths.

"Wow, that was too damn close. Got to hope it was worth it.", she muttered to herself before standing back up.

Starlight galloped after the two kirins who were themselves galloping toward their teammate. There were small fires burning where the fireballs had hit. The light allowed Starlight to get a look at the ace flier. She raised her eyebrows. She was a pegasus pony, not a kirin. If the clothes were any indication, she was a civilian too. There was something vaguely familiar about her, though. She was now standing up. It looked like she'd made down unharmed, somehow. In just a moment, she was standing next to the two Night Guard kirins and the pegasus. The male kirin turned to her.

"Thank goodness, you look like you're okay, lieutenant. I'm lieutenant Silver Shield, this is sergeant Shine. The pegasus who just saved our flanks twice and mine once already on the way here is lieutenant Misty Fly, E.U.P.G."

"Thanks, lt. Sarge, lieutenant Fly.", Starlight said and bowed to the members of the surprising rescue team.

Starlight turned to the pegsus.

"Lieutenat Fly, as in the Wonderbolt lieutenant Misty Fly?"

"That's me.", the exhausted pegasus replied.

"Well that explains the borderline impossible flying. Thank you.", Misty said and nodded.

"No problem. You wouldn't happen to know what the hay I was dodging, would you?", the pegasus then asked.

"Sorry, no clue. All I can tell you is that we're dealing with dark magic and this mission's far from over. Come in to the station building. I have a few things to show you. Get ready for a surprise."

"Umm... Shimmer, we just saw a unicorn turn into dust and float away. You're going to have one heck of a hard time topping that.", Silver Shield as the four were walking towards the building.


End file.
